Body Modification

It wasn't me!

So, some discussion. I know there are a few others besides myself interested in it around here. Let's talk about it. Why are you interested in it? What brought it to your attention? What are your plans for the future regarding it? And for those of you who don't partake in it or who are against it, for whatever reason, it'd be interesting to hear your opinions as well, so long as they're intelligent of course and don't break down into "Tattooz an piercinz is teh ghey."

Personally, I don't know why I started really. The music I love undoubtedly had some impact though. After that, when I got my first piercings done, it was just really addictive and cool. The pain's an odd sensation. It's different. I kind of felt like an observer almost. As regards the future, I intend to get a good few more piercings done and if I can find or come up with a design worth branding or inking into myself I'll probably get that done too.

For this summer I had intended to get three more in each ear but the parents weren't keen on it when I broached the subject so maybe an industrial.

Anyway, on to your own stories.

Bazookatone

I think tattoos look cool. But I would always advise you not to get one, simply because they are permenant. You know all those chav slappers who've got some absurd tribal symbol above their peeping thong? Yeah, it's not going to be so hot when you're 63, get stretch marks, varicose vains and cellulite dearie.

If anyone tells you "oh you can just get it lasered off", you cant, even though the ink will be gone, there'll still be a permenant mark, a brownng of the skin, in the shape of your tattoo. Imagine using tip-exx on a picture piece of white paper. It's still obvious what the picture was from the "whiter than white" colour of the Tipp exx. Pretty much the same with tattoo removal. And tattoo removal isn't cheap, It is, after all, a kind of surgery, so why would you waste the money, first getting the tattoo, then getting it removed later?

On piercings, I've got one, but only one. The ear lobe is fine, there's few nerves or blood vessels to damage. But anywhere else is risky, and in my opinion, stupid. Your tongue has thousands of nerves and an inticate network of blood vessels, I would imagine it's quite risky piercing it at the best of times, so I don't advise you take the chance of doing serious damage by allowing someone to force a needle and a stud through it (To be honest, I've never heard of someone bleeding to death from a tongue piercing, so it might be relatively safe). What I DO know for a fact is that tongue piercings wreck your teeth because.
1) that little steel ball knocking around in your mouth is the equivilent of a wrecking ball and chips away tiny pieces of enamel
2) food and other stuff collects around the piercing and in the hole of your tongue and is a breeding ground for bacteria. My dad is a dentist and he told me himself that he's seeing teenage girls suffering from gingivitis and oral diseases that he only ever saw "in farmers who spent their lives up the side of a mountain and only brushed their teeth if they were going to a dance"

So, huge amounts of piercings in your various orifices is not healthy, ever, at all

garthv

On piercings, I've got one, but only one. The ear lobe is fine, there's few nerves or blood vessels to damage. But anywhere else is risky, and in my opinion, stupid

Ok sunshine,get yourself to the Piercings and tattoo forums before you come out with idiotic quotes like that.
Piercers go through two years of training before they are even allowed touch someone with a needle. Blood-borne pathogen diplomas and full nerve/blood vessel training to name but a few things you have to learn.

/edit
Just read that your dad was a dentist.....of course hes going to hate oral piercings(although I dont see why as oral piercings are the main thing keeping dentists in business these days)....get your own opinion.

Hellrazer

Ahem :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=358


As for your previous quote regarding the ear lobe as being the only safe piercing all I can say is that that has to be the most un-informed statement Ive ever heard.
Tattooing and piercing is a profession and although its not regulated over here there are voluntary guidelines whereby a certain amount of training is undertaken before going near anyone with a needle.

Get yourself over to the tattooing/piercing forum and read through peoples experiences before making general statements like that one.
As for the damage to teeth in my opinion its a rushed job or a bad piercer who doesnt take into account the location of the piercing before carrying it out.
One of my friends who runs a tattoo/piercing studio has never had on problem with any of the oral piercings that hes carried out.As for Dentists--My own dentist is who I suppose is of "our generation" actually has told me the above.If its done properly and adequate oral hygiene is carried out each day then there is no increased risk of gum disease to the person.He even lets his patients leave the piercings in when in the surgery not like some of the more conservative dentists who seem to do anything to get the piercing out of a persons mouth with all manner of excuses even if its only a check-up or the likes.
Just my 2cents.
Richie

It wasn't me!

I know tongue piercings can be very detrimental to your teeth but a dentist's opinion is always going to be biased on such a subject. I think a tattoo isn't meant to just sit there and look pretty and if that's the reason you got it you deserve to grow old and regret it. They should mean something. You're scratching something that reminds you of something very important to you into your skin. It should be permanent. I also don't see how you can think of what a piercer has to go through to get to the stage where they're allowed pierce someone and then start listing off a one-item list of piercings you see as safe. Tongue piercings can go wrong, yes, but that's why you go to a trained piercer who'll get it right, or if they can't, won't do it. For instance, I see little or no risk in the vast majority of piercings, body or facial. I've put a bit of study into the matter and I can reward myself by getting done what I know to be safe.

I know about the Tattoos/Piercings board and I use it myself Hellrazer but I was wondering what kind of discussion I could get among the community here, since I know most of them. Besides, this is more a general body mod discussion which would just clog up tattoos/piercings and annoy yourself and eth0.

Hellrazer

Actually it wouldnt bother me at all--Id like to see more of these type of threads in the T/P forum.Im getting a bit sick of the "does it hurt" and "who is the best piercer"and "where do I get pierced" and "how long to heal" threads.

A genuine discussion like this is definately welcome.I dont mean to give out about the above type of threads its just annoying that people wont so a search before asking the question as most of the answers are there in older threads.

Richie

It wasn't me!

Yeah, it'd feel a bit "stating the obvious" though to start a thread called Body Modification in the Tattoos/Piercings forum. :rolleyes: Besides, I was kind of trying to get the perspectives and opinions and whatnot of the people I would know from this community.

Liquorice

I have an...intense...interest in body modification, as anyone who was in Legal Studies s2 will confirm. It started when I was 10 or 11 and started noticing people with piercings and tattoos, and thought they looked well, and also having my body as my own canvas would was beginning to appeal to me. Unfortunately, no modifications as of yet, apart from one in each lobe(which I can say is definitely not the safest place to be pierced if the piercer is some 16-year-old from a jewellery shop with 3 hours' training and a gun), because my parents feel that I may end up regretting it and therefore forbid it. I'm happy enough though, it has given me time to consider things I'd like done and to look into the most reputable piercers, safest procedures etc.

I'm interested in it from both a cultural and an artistic point of view. I don't see how it applies to a certain type of music alone(although in the West its current popularity seems to have evolved from the punk movement), but I can see where It Wasn't Me's point comes from.

I hold the seemingly rare view that subdermal implants can be incredibly aesthetically pleasing if the person with them can 'wear them' well. I wouldn't get any because I don't think I could pull them off, but they can look incredibly on some people.

My favourite piercing would have to be the corset piercing, although it is not very permanent and allegedly quite painful, although I suppose the pain factor varies from person to person.

I honestly don't see why people think others will regret tattoos or piercings, one is meant to accept, especially with tattoos, that they're there for life and to embrace that fact, not dread it. I, personally, would love to at 60 years old and see how my life unfolded before me on my body. Although a bit of stretching and fading is inevitable, if they're done by a reputable artist, and taken care of, it won't be too bad.

StupidLikeAFox

I couldnt even imagine letting someone near my tongue with a needle. Its a pet peeve or something. Eyebrow is cool, only on some people though. What i think really looks crap is the little stud C.Aguilera got just above her mouth, to one side. Looks real out of place or something. Nipples, cant complain i guess!. If ya have a real strong stomach search Google images for ''Prince Albert'' - Ouch! Gets the ladies where theyre goin all the time though, apparently.
Tatoos are quite good too, but as was mentioned it would really have to be meaningful to ya for it to stick with ya for the rest of your life. Some people just really dont put enough thought into these things........

Raphael

I have none at the moment. As soon as I can convince my school to allow ear piercings, and by the gods I will get them too, I'll get a lobe piercing. Was thinking about getting a helix, but that whole upper ear area is a big acupuncturey zone, I'd have to do a lot of research before I put wholes in it

On the tattoo front, I would dearly love to get one or two. But, very unfortunatly, I want to be an actor, and they could cause difficulties in that respect. So I'll have to hold off on that front.

It wasn't me!

I don't associate them with the music anymore, though they do tend to go together, but it was probably the music scene that exposed me to them and inducted me so to speak.

One major problem I have is that there is no legal control over body modification, which is a somewhat mixed blessing. One one hand, you have the fact that you can do anything you want, whereas if it were controlled certain more extreme forms like cutting might not be as accepted. On the other, any moron can grab a needle and call themselves a piercer. I think there really needs to be some kind of nationwide standard that all piercers and tattooists should be held to in order to eliminate places like the Georges Street Arcade.

Liquorice

It wasn't me! wrote:

One major problem I have is that there is no legal control over body modification, which is a somewhat mixed blessing. One one hand, you have the fact that you can do anything you want, whereas if it were controlled certain more extreme forms like cutting might not be as accepted. On the other, any moron can grab a needle and call themselves a piercer. I think there really needs to be some kind of nationwide standard that all piercers and tattooists should be held to in order to eliminate places like the Georges Street Arcade.

If I can find the report Pierce(teeheehee...)and I did I'll post it up. Its probably lost somewhere in DCU though.

It wasn't me!

Was that the one about guns in the Irish industry?

LiamD

I think tatoos and piercings look well on people, but nt too many of either and only in certain places.I think eyebrow piercings look really good and upper-arm and back tattoos look good too.But 10 earrings doesnt.

Matthewthebig

I would like the right of my lip done, and maybe a ring in my eyebrow.

On the tattoo front i would like my entire sleeve done. Not as a single tattoo but as many things.

Problem is my school allows tattoos and piercings. However my stupid stupid job does not!

mentalimplosion

pfft by the looks of it your school allows anything.
anyway, i would want a monroe, or one on the left of my lower lip (NO i don't know the terminology) but i know i'd get bored with them and take it out after a while.
i think it's all down to the kind of person you are, and the type of face you have. i think a septum piercing can actually look like the cutest thing in the world, if you've got the face for it, which applies to like 1% of people who get it. in general all eyebrow + tongue piercings look common imo. but then again i'm quite a snob at times. belly buttons are SO overdone by fat girls who don't have the belly for it, but they look ****ing gorgeous if you've got a flat stomach.

Matthewthebig

Which means?

Yeah you really have to have the look for a belly piercing!

It wasn't me!

I don't think it should be done for aesthetic purposes. It's more a personal thing than that.

nosmo

I've had quite a big interest in modification of various kinds for a good few years, but money, parents and school have restricted me throughout. I do a lot of drawing that would suit a tattoo, and I'm always thinking up new things to contemplate having done, but at the end of the day, I tend to think about the long term and not bother. In a few years maybe.
As for piercings, the school, money, parents factors come in again, but this is something I am less worried about "for the long term". My plans are constantly changing, but nipples are a definite plan, as are a few ear adornments. Pocketing and stapling are other things I've thought about but I wouldn't think it'd suit me too well. I've had an obsession with ear tunneling for years and I'd love to get that done too, any size from a 1cm diameter to about 6, but that has the long term worries again.

Matthewthebig

But thats why people get piercings, because you think it looks nice, except for genital ones which are for pleasure.

I suppose its meant to be addictive though.

I can't understand how piercings can not be an aesthetic thing.

goin'_to_the_PS

hate to be this granny

goin'_to_the_PS

love to have this

edibility

I currently have my ears pierced 5 times, lobes four and the common top (not sure of the exact name) one done in my left ear. I also have my left nipple pierced. I plan to get a lot more done, but nothing on my face until after I'm finished school, which'll be in June so a few shall happen then. I regret the top of my ear though, as I got it done by a kid with a gun when I was fourteen, and it healed in a kind of bump, which I gather is common for badly done cartilage piercings. I'm not sure the real reason I like piercings so much, but as Liquorice said the idea of your body as a canvas appeals to me hugely. I also honestly think they can look beautiful on the right person, and accentuate that persons features if they chose wisely. Currently on the agenda for myself is to get my other nipple pierced, the right side of my bottom lip pierced twice (rings), my labia (possibly), and a few more ear piercing, as well as one of my lobes stretched, but only to about 5/8", and I'm not even sure if that's possible, as I have quite small lobes. I'm also considering a subdermal implant across the back of neck and the bridge of my nose, but I'm not positive about them yet.

Tattoo's also appeal to me hugely, but I'm a lot more wary about them in the sense that I really don't want to regret having it done, and I also want it to be a very personal design. I don't dislike full sleeves, back pieces or so on but they wouldn't be my thing, I'd prefer small works spaced out over my body.

Another thing I'd be interested in would be scarification, although it hasn't been mentioned (http://www.bmezine.com/scar/bme-scar.html). It's something that appeals to me because of it's uncommoness and the unusual look it brings out. I'd also feel it'd be a great buzz, in the sense that It Wasn't Me mentioned in his first post. I doubt i'd do it for a good few years yet though, I'd be in the same frame of mind about it as tattoos.

As for the comments regards safety, I got my nipple done in Celestial Ring, and they were incredibley hygienic and seemed extremely knowlegable. Having watched my friend get hers done at a piercing studio which has since closed done due to health and safety issues, the difference was obvious. Go somewhere with a good reputation, pay a decent price, mind your piercing and you should be fine. But as with any bodily surgery, something can go wrong, you just have to make sure there's a very low probability of it happening.

Also: http://www.bmezine.com/news/steppingback/20050209.html very interesting article on the true meaning of body "modification".

It wasn't me!

I get it done for personal reasons, not aesthetic ones. Maybe I'm different though.

edibility

No, I'd agree with you there It Wasn't Me, but it's kind of hard to define them isn't it

Matthewthebig

But what is so personal about getting anything pierced?

I can understand tattoos but not peircings.

mentalimplosion

yeah, i can't imagine getting say my lip pierced for anything else than the look of it. and the feeling of shiny new metal in my mouth

Plunky

Some piercings are personal!

Matthewthebig

What type?

btw i saw you in town with a lady friend on Wednesday.

It wasn't me!

I just love piercings. I see them as an artform. I get them done for much the same reasons as some would cite for getting tattoos done: mostly to just put a kind of pagemarker on my life, so I can look back and think of what happened around the time I got a certain piercing or what was going on in my life at that stage. That's about as accurately as I can put it I think. Piercings for me are kind of notches in the stick of my life (Wow, that sounds so hippyish). They're a timeline for me.

Matthewthebig

But you've gotten pierced before and then removed them.

You've been planning on getting your ears pierced for a long time, i think, and now you getting them done this summer.

How does that mark an important thing in your life. If it really marked something important you'd get it done at the time.

I don't believe that you can stockpile things like that.